Francisco Castellon

Francisco Castellon Sanabria (1815-8 September 1855) was Supreme Director of Nicaragua from 11 June 1854 to 22 September 1855, succeeding Nazario Escoto. He was a Liberal Party of Nicaragua politician, and he invited William Walker and his filibuster army to Nicaragua in 1855 to help him defeat the Conservative Party of Nicaragua in a civil war.

Biography
Francisco Castellon Sanabria was born in Leon, Nicaragua in 1815, and he worked as a lawyer before serving as Prime Minister under President Patricio Rivas. He was removed from power in 1841 by Pablo Buitrago, but he was reappointed in 1843 by Manuel Perez. In 1844, Castellon was sent to serve as Nicaragua's ambassador to England and then to France, and he returned to serving as a minister under Jose Laureano Pineda from 1851 to 1853. In 1853, the Conservative Party of Nicaragua leader Fruto Chamorro was elected Supreme Director of Nicaragua through electoral fraud, and he moved the capital to Granada and created a new constitution without the consent of the Liberals. This led to civil war, and Castellon was proclaimed President on 11 June 1854. The Liberals initially had the upper hand, but they later failed in their siege of Granada before losing control of Managua, Masaya, and Rivas to the Conservatives. Castellon invited the American filibuster William Walker and his army to Nicaragua in June 1855, and they helped the Liberals to retake control of the country. Castellon died in September 1855, and Walker would rule the country through a puppet president before seizing power in 1856.